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Sunday, August 15, 2004

I was going to write something interesting (to me anyway) about Islam and it's many sects and effect on the whole of the populations of the Middle East, but I got a little caught up in reading some of the Iraqi bloggers and their pleas were so damn touching, I wanted to put them here as a reminder that we should not break from these people. A reminder that, for all of our troubles and worries, there are people out there who have many more than we.

The first I will quote is an angry statement to Muqtada Al-Sadr, that the Iraqi people will no longer be sheep to be led around by a strong man with a gun hiding behind religion:

That was what "Alsadr" thinks will be his way in Iraq ,what was the reaction of people all around here ?
People simply laugh ,when they hear him ,or listen to his speeches ,not only that but people are very upsetwith him ,angrier and angrier,for what that backwoods is man doing to Iraq and the Iraqi people .
We want to send a message to "Mogtada": there is no place in new Iraq for you or your militia and Iraq is not only "ALsadr" followers ,Iraq is about 27 million people and all who support "Alsadr" or "Fallujah" are not more than 750,000 . (...)

Everything clear now for all the world , those people like "Alsadr"and "Fallujah " don’t want to live according to law ,the Iraqi government invited them to join the political process ,and if as they say, that they are supported by the whole majority here ,and they are popular,then why are they afraid to have the elections ?
The reason is clear like the sun,they know that people don’t support them ,and people don’t want any extremist or fool to lead them no ,no more ,people want to live to liberate to see the world ,to be human ,[not]sheep.Therefore they used to terrify people and threaten them , thinking that they will control people. No ,you are wrong ,we are no longer your sheep ,we are human now ,and we don’t believe in you ,no, no longer .We don’t believe in you hiding behind religion ,your religion ,which you create.
No ,we don’t won't your words and thoughts ,in the name of helping the Iraqi people ,Iraqis don’t won't you no more .
No, America is not our enemy ,no more ,they are our friend ,and we respect them as they do us .
No ,we want[won't] fight for your beliefs and sick ideas .
Yes ,we will stand against you ,my weapon is my voice and all supporters of freedom our voices will be the powerful weapon to defeat you ,that what you are afraid of .Yes ,I will show to all that you are liars and all what is you want to rule by gun.
Yes, our voices will be stronger that your guns, and our hope is more powerful than your bullets .Yes ,we will win ,you will lose .

Those are powerful words. "We are not sheep" and "our voices will be the powerful weapon to defeat you" and "our hope is more powerful than your bullets".

The din is drowning the Voice of the Iraqi people. I appeal to people of the World; Please, Please, Please hear the true voice of the Iraqi people. We are facing a terrible conspiracy. The people of the South are being persecuted and massacred, not by the Americans, not by the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police. The gangs of the “Mehdi” army financed and recruited by the Iranian security forces and others, this has become amply clear, are massacring the people, right now as I am writing these lines.(...)

In the name of the Iraqi people and the Shiaa people, as God is my witness, we appeal to our friends everywhere to come to the rescue of our people in the South in particular. The people of Kut are fighting the gangs with their bare hands at the moment. Don’t expect any coherent words from me now. Please do not listen to the lies. The vast overwhelming majority of the Shiaa people in particular are dead against these gangs. They don’t want them; please believe me, and may God strike me dead immediately if I tell you lies or my own personal feeling only.(...)

No one, but no one, is going to rob us of our hopes and our future. No one can succeed in subduing the majority of the people of Iraq again, least of all gangs of thieves, thugs, robbers and kidnappers. It is better to die a thousand deaths than to submit to the forces of darkness and evil.

Aash Al Iraq [long live Iraq]

Those are the words of a patriot..."It is better to die a thousand deaths than to submit to the forces of darkness and evil."

If you are sitting in your home, comforatable and safe and can feel no compassion for these people regardless of your political leanings, you are a sad creature unworthy of the genome "human".

Just a few days ago they were threatening the 'scoundrels' and
'criminals' with eradication if they did not disarm and surrender. Now,
'our brother Muqtada' will not be arrested if he leaves Najaf, and he
still has the choice to particpate in the government and turn
the Sadrist movement into a 'political' one, while Sadr calls them
'dictators' and offers outrageous conditions for a truce.(...)

Now he wants Najaf to turn into a 'Hawzawi protectorate' with Al-Mahdi in control, joining Fallujah, Sammara, and Sadr city as an independent safehaven for insurgents with its own local government, Sharia laws, and private courts and prisons. And the
interim government is offering him that opportunity, sealing its own fate in the process.

As if the suffering of thousands of Najafis who were caught in between
and the deaths of Iraqi policemen and soldiers were all in vain. As if the silent approval of Najafis and the marji'iya meant nothing. (...)

Allawi's 'emergency laws' are a joke. They might look good on paper, but who is to enforce them? Allwai says it's not time yet to implement them. Not when IP and ING's desert and swear allegiance to Al-Mahdi in Ammara and Basrah. Not when Al-Mahdi have taken over governmental offices and IP stations in Nasiriya and Diwaniya. Not when they have checkpoints and patrols using IP vehicles in Sadr city. Not when they
declare their own emergency laws and a curfew in Baghdad. Not when they are lobbing mortars daily at Iraqi ministries and residential areas. Not when they can hold anyone hostage and force Iraqi officials to resign. Not when they can control the flow of oil through pipelines from the south. Not when Muqtada is al-sayyed al-qa'id. And certainly not when Allawi is just the local mayor of the Green Zone.

S.O.S.

To those that advocate abandoning our Iraqi brothers and sisters to their fate because you have some screwed up political beliefs, I say, "to hell with you." These men and women are worth just as much as our sons and daughters and should not be abandoned nor traded to save one drop of our children's blood. The minute you begin to rationalize who is more worthy of any sacrifice is the minute you begin to lose your humanity.

Be gone! Those who advocate withdrawal already reside in the seventh ring of Dante's inferno and should return there to wallow in their ignorance.

As I stand by my military brothers and sisters, so do I stand by my Iraqi brothers and sisters who are no less deserving of our love and support.